Russians are preventing two Ukrainian teenagers’ burial
Russian forces in the occupied Ukrainian city of Berdyansk are preventing the burial of two 16 year-old Ukrainians, Tihran Ohannisian and Mykyta Khanhanov, whom they killed in a gunfight on 24 June. Soon after their deaths a video went viral of Tihran with a clenched fist, saying farewell and “Glory to Ukraine!”. Last autumn, the boys were accused of planning to sabotage the local railway to disrupt Russian military logistics, and were placed under house arrest. Tihran’s mother and siblings left for Germany early in the war, according to the Times, but he chose to stay to care for his grandmother. Ukrainian officials had tried to have the teenagers transferred out of Russian-occupied territory, but in vain. Russian authorities are now refusing to issue certificates of permission for burial, without which their bodies cannot be taken from the morgue. The UN claims there have been at least 77 extrajudicial executions of Ukrainians detained by Russia. Separately, a military airfield outside Berdyansk used by Russian helicopter gunships was hit on Friday by a series of long-range missiles, thought to be Storm Shadows provided by the UK.
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